Achagua people

Achagua
Regions with significant populations
	Colombia, Venezuela
Languages
	Achagua
Religion
	Traditional religion
Related ethnic groups
	Guahibo, U'wa, and Other Arawakan-speaking peoples; Especially Baniwa, Tariana, and Tegua

The Achagua (also Achawa and Axagua) are an indigenous people of Colombia and Venezuela.^[1] At the time of the Spanish colonization of the Americas, their territory covered the present-day Venezuelan states of Bolívar, Guárico and Barinas.^[2] In the late twentieth century there were several hundred Achaguas remaining.^[2]

Municipalities belonging to Achagua territories

Name	Department	Altitude (m) urban centre
Támara (shared with U'wa)	Casanare	1156
Nunchía (shared with U'wa)	Casanare	398
Yopal	Casanare	390
Aguazul (shared with Tegua)	Casanare	290
Tauramena	Casanare	460
Recetor (shared with Tegua)	Casanare	800
Chámeza (shared with Tegua)	Casanare	1150
Paya	Boyacá	970
Labranzagrande (shared with U'wa & Guahibo)	Boyacá	1210

Culture

Achagua people live in large villages. Clans live together in communal houses. Polygamy is commonplace. They farm crops, such as bitter cassava. They traditionally poison their arrows with curare.^[1]

There is a small town in Apure called Achaguas.^{[clarification needed]}

Language

Achagua people speak the Achagua language, a Maipurean Arawakan language.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Achagua." Encyclopædia Britannica. (retrieved 1 December 2011)
^ ^a ^b James Stuart Olson (1991), The Indians of Central and South America: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary, Greenwood Publishing Group. p2

External links

Achagua artwork, National Museum of the American Indian Archived 9 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine

[brit-1] "Achagua." Encyclopædia Britannica. (retrieved 1 December 2011)

[Olson-2] James Stuart Olson (1991), The Indians of Central and South America: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary, Greenwood Publishing Group. p2

[1]

[2]